1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to articles of footwear, and more particularly to articles of footwear adapted to support the traditional functions of footwear as well as to facilitate sliding over, for instance, a pipe, a rail, an edged surface or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In our earlier application Ser. No. 08/890,595, filed Jul. 9, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,451, we disclosed a grinding shoe apparatus incorporating a grind plate recessed upwardly into the bottom surface of a shoe sole for grinding along a support surface such as a rail or pipe or the like. This shoe apparatus itself, while having enjoyed considerable commercial success, has not satisfied all the needs in the marketplace. First, active athletes often carry with them numerous different items such as keys, chewing gum, screw tools or other small portable objects such as coins or folded bills or the like to which the user might want to access throughout the day. Thus, there exists a need for a grind shoe apparatus which incorporates storage capability for such objects so they can be easily accessed for usage during the time that the shoes are worn.
Further, athletes have come to appreciate that different style and shaped grind plates may be preferable for different applications and maneuvers. Thus, it is desirable to provide a grind shoe apparatus including a set of grind plates having different configurations for performing under different conditions. It has been found that for some maneuvers that the shoe apparatus incorporate a grind plate with a relatively high rise in an trough shaped plate thus dictating that the sole have a substantial height thereto so as to accommodate recess of the plate up into the sole itself. This then gives the shoe a rather distinctive appearance, particularly with the grind plate in position. It is desirable that such shoes be adaptable to be worn in certain environments having minimum attire requirements, requirements that would prohibit wearing of such a shoe which exhibits such a distinctive expression of athleticism. Consequently, there is a need for a grind shoe of this type which is convertible to an appearance other than that of a grind shoe itself. It is these needs to which the various embodiments of the present invention address.